Shake my Bones
by Niskasbitch
Summary: Twelfth graders Clary and Jace have just met and they're already going on an adventure. After a tragic earthquake the two students become trapped together in a room of their school. Will they be able to work together to get out? Will they make it out? But most importantly, what awaits them when they finally escape?
1. Chapter 1

**Helllloooo. I took this story down a couple of weeks ago cause I hadn't updated in like 5 months. But, we did some projects in my creative writing class and I miraculously became inspired again so hopefully this time I will continue writing and updating. Anyway, I've made some slight changes to the story line so if you're a returning reader it would do you good to read from the start as there are some new/different scenarios going on. I haven't exactly read through this since I first wrote a year ago so sorry if there are some typos or I switch from past to present tense (I know it's really annoying but I'm too lazy to edit this).**

**ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO CASSANDRA CLARE. NO COPYRIGHT WAS INTENDED.**

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I scream as I am slammed into his chest. He gripped my back with one arm while the other shielded us from falling books. We start running towards the door when something hard whacks me in the head. I fall to the ground holding my head in my hands._ Shouting… why is there shouting? Why can't there be quiet?_

I open my eyelids slightly to see where the noise is coming from. Red clouds my vision but I see a face yelling something but I can't hear. The face looks frantic as my eyelids close shut. "I'm tired," I try to say but my mouth refuses to make the words. All I can feel as my world turns black are hands pressed to my skull and a pounding in my head.

10 minutes earlier

"Does everyone have their books with them?" asks Ms. Penhallow.

I look around to see what book everyone is pulling out of their bags. I groan internally when I see what book we're reading in my English 12 class: Macbeth. I hate Shakespeare. It doesn't help that I wasn't here last class which means i'm going to have to read even more tonight to catch up.

I raise my hand and say, "Ms. P, I wasn't here last class so I don't have a book."

"I wasn't here either so I don't have one also," I hear from across the room. I look over and am surprised when I can't put a name to the gorgeous face I'm now staring at. His wavy blond hair is tousled perfectly. His eyes are an unforgettable gold. How haven't I noticed this guy before?

"Well then Clary, Jace," Ms.P says snapping me from my thoughts, "I'm giving you my keys to the book room. I trust that you won't start wandering around," She looks at me questioningly. As always, my brother Ian's reputation precedes me.

"Ms. P, we will guard your keys with our lives and I promise you we will go straight there and back. No interruptions," Jace says.

"Alright, be back quickly though," Ms. P responds, we're going to go over last nights reading when you get back."

I start getting up from my seat when I get a text my best friend Isabelle whisper to me. "Yo, I overslept again and required coffee so I'm at The Bean Hut. Want anything?" it reads. Of course I already knew Izzy was late again she's supposed to be in this english class but I doubt i'll see her much since she's always late. If she'd been here she probably would've made some sort of sexual innuendo comment involving me, the new kid, and Shakespeare.

I walk to Ms. P, get the keys and muttered a thanks as I headed for the door. Jace was standing at the now open door and said, "After you," with a smug smile as I passed by. His soft, deep voice caught me off guard making my heart flutter. I looked down and fiddled with the keys to hide the flush inching across my face. Jeez, new kids making me blush already that must be a record.

I clear my throat as we start down the hallway, "The book room is this way. It's a hallway over I think," I say.

"Ok," he says softly, "so… do you like Shakespeare?"

I glance at him and look back down at my hands as I ponder his question. For some reason I didn't want to answer without knowing what he thought. I didn't want to say yes and make him think I was some nerdy, boring girl who only read classic literature but I also didn't want to insult him by saying I hated it and thought it was ridiculously complicated and boring. I looked up to see him looking at me intently awaiting my answer.

"I-I uh... Shakespeare's okay I guess. I mean I wouldn't read it in my free time but I can tolerate it somewhat for school," I answer. He chuckled, "yeah, it's kind of tedious having to always look up words," we stop at the book room, "but some of the plays are interesting." I shrug as I unlocked the door and stepped into the dark musty room. Jace came in behind me and started looking for a light.

Light from the hallway illuminated the book room. I watch Jace while he is looking for the light switch. His muscles became taut underneath his shirt as he moved his hand all along the wall. He reaches up towards the ceiling and a strip of skin above his jeans is revealed. I inhale sharply when I notice a blemish on his angelic body. There are black shapes all along his lower back disappearing into his shirt. He's 16! How can he have a tattoo? When Izzy and I tried to get one the guy just scoffed at us. A snicker brings me back to reality and I realize the room is now fully illuminated. Jace is peering at me as if he's waiting for an answer.

"I-I-I'm sorry," I stutter embarrassed by my ogling, "did you ask me something,"

Jace smirked, "I asked if you would prefer to continue gawking at me or should I just take my shirt off."

I narrowed my eyes and scowled at him but I knew he could see the flush spreading across my cheeks. "I was just wondering how in the hell you managed to get a tattoo."

"Why shorty? You wanna get one too?"

"Wow how original, you called me shorty." I knew I was short. Why did everyone always have to remind me? I turned and walked over to a shelf searching for the book we needed.

"Oooh, height is a touchy subject. I'll remember that," he smirked coming up behind me, "I'll check the higher shelves."

"Ugh, whatever," I muttered moving on to the next shelf.

He walked up next to me and picked up a book from the top shelf. "Aaah," he said, "Found it."

"Great. Can you get me one?" I asked.

"Hmmm, how 'bout you get it yourself," he said chuckling.

"Are you kidding me?" I yelled, "Just give me a freaking book!"

"Nah, I want to see you strug-" his response was cut short, the shelves were moving. They were shaking just enough to make creaking sounds like an old swing set that hadn't been used in years.

"What the hell," I whispered. I looked towards Jace his eyes wide with fear.

The shelves start shaking violently and books were falling off shelves. A shelf fell right behind me making me jump forward. I slammed into Jace's chest and stayed there for a moment as concrete started falling around us. I'm screaming and Jace is pulling me towards the door. I hear something crack. Something hits my head and I gasp. I fall to my knees as Jace turns around towards me confused as to why I've stopped. He gapes at me and I fall the rest of the way to the ground gripping my head feeling warm liquid under my hands. _Oh god, why did it have to be blood?_ I hear yelling and feel more blood flowing down my face. There are hands on my skull and a distant voice yelling my name. _Mmmm. His hands are so soft. Jace's hands feel good, I like his hands on me._

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Hope y'all enjoyed my l'il story, more to come very soon.

Sincerely, Niska


	2. Chapter 2

I wasn't going to post the next bit for another day or two but after getting 20 follows in less than 24 hours I thought you guys deserved to get the next chapter now. Again, I've added/changed some parts so don't skip anything! Anyway, thank everyone who's reading this and is following you're the best!

**ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO CASSANDRA CLARE. NO COPYRIGHT INTENDED. **

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Clary's hand jerks from mine and she stops suddenly. I whirl around curious to see what was so much more important than getting the hell out of here. I gasp when I see her kneeling on the floor gripping her hand to her head. Her gorgeous green eyes stare at me, a look of confusion and fear in them. She falls to the floor and whimpers.

"Clary!" I yell running over to her, "Clary! We have to get out of here. Come on Clary, we have to go now!" I kneel down next to her and see there is blood flowing freely down her face. The blood mating her fiery red hair. I press my hands against her gash to stop the bleeding. We have to get out of here soon. Her eyes flutter open but close again, "Clary!" I yell again but I know she isn't going to respond. Oh god what if she's dead. "Shit!" I yell.

The shaking is getting worse. Books and shelves pour down around us and I can hear the ceiling cracking some more. I look up to see concrete falling in giant chunks and in little pieces like snowflakes. How nice, concrete snowflakes sound like something I should definitely be inhaling. I pull Clary into my arms and try to stand up through the incessant quakes.

I've just gotten Clary into my arms when I hear a strange noise echo throughout the room. The noise immediately conjures an image of a boat blasting a bow horn in a dark harbour in my mind. _BRRRRuuuuhhhhmmmnnnUUUNH-BRRRRuuuuhhhhmmmnnnUUUNH._ The noise is so strong it knocks me back down right on my ass. Clary's body falls forcefully onto mine every crevice of her flawless body landing perfectly on mine. Desire overwhelms me and I want nothing more than to take this girl and spend the rest of my days with her.

The noise blasts through the room again and I remember if we don't get out of here now I probably wouldn't get to spend another day with her. Planting my feet firmly on the ground I pull us off the floor. The door is 10 feet away. I take off towards it hoping we will be able to get out of the school in time. There is no way in hell the school would put up with this, it was almost 60 years old.

A huge tremor throws me off my balance sending us once again to the ground. I fall on my back this and she ends up sprawled over me. I want nothing more in this moment than to get the hell out of here and find some semblance of safety. But, all I can think about is the sharp pain radiating from my shoulder where I landed on something sharp. Just like me to be a fucking gentlemen and absorb the impact for the both of us.

I look to the door. We're only six feet away from it now. The lights go out and we're surrounded by blackness. I can hardly see the door anymore but the quakes are becoming less intense. I start to get up repositioning Clary in my arms. There's a cracking sound and I look up to see the second floor caving in right in front of me. Concrete and wires block the top half of the door leaving only three or four feet of the door for us to go through.

Chunks of concrete start falling again piling in front of the door. I can hear the concrete giving way and ripping away from the foundation. There's no way in hell we can get out now. We're going to be trapped in here. We're going to fucking die here. Concrete comes crashing down in front of us like a wave. I feel bits of it embed in my skin. I hear Clary gasp and I know the stinging pain has roused her. I roll us away from the surge of concrete, covering her petite body with mine. My chest ends up covering her head and I can feel her hands grabbing onto my shirt. I tuck my head right above hers and I hear her frenzied breath as the roar quiets down.

Jace presses his body into mine as our world crumbles around us. I instinctively grab at his shirt bringing his body closer to mine. He acts as a shield as bits of concrete rain down around us. I can feel where little bits of concrete have embedded in my skin. I start hyperventilating aware that we're probably going to die here. There is no way in hell we're going to live through this. The school is at least 60 years old and would never put up with an earthquake of this magnitude.

The shaking has mostly stopped now but the damage has not. It's completely black in the room and I have to rely on my other senses to figure out what's going on. I can feel things hitting the floor to the left of me and I can hear things ripping apart. That's the worst part, the sound. It sounds like rocks being ripped apart and smashed into oblivion. It sounds like bones being crunched and pulsed inside of a blender.

"It'll be ok," I hear Jace yell as the rumbling dies down. I realise I am shaking and sobbing into him. Fucking anxiety attacks. I bite my lip and do the bullshit deep breathing exercises my therapist makes me do to calm down.

After what feels like hours, the roar has dies down completely and is replaced by an eerie calm. I unclench my hands from Jace and wipe my cheeks free of tears. I will not let him think of me as some weak girl needing rescuing. He picks himself up slightly and moves down my body putting a leg on either side of my thighs trapping me beneath him. I can feel him looking down at me through the darkness that surrounds us. He strokes my head hesitantly with one hand while the other holds me tightly. Goosebumps cover my body. Damn, hormones, this is not the time to be so reactive.

"What the hell just happened?" I gasp trying weasel myself out from under him but his hands hold me firmly in place.

"Are you ok?" Jace asks quietly. My eyebrows pull together in confusion when I realise he's talking about my head.

"Oh, I'm fine I think," I say touching my head where there is a small gash. I could feel blood in my hair and on my face making my stomach churn. "I don't think it's that deep of cut anyway."

"You passed out, you could have a concussion," he says with concern in his voice. He moves off of me and stands leaving me cool where he touched.

"Oh… I um, don't like… blood makes me squeamish," I say finally moving into a sitting position facing where I think he is. My phobia of blood tends to control of me sometimes. Like now when if I hadn't passed out like a child we wouldn't be in this situation.

I can feel his piercing glare on me and he growls, "So because you're scared of a little blood we're trapped here. Well isn't that just dandy! I always wanted to die in a fucking school!" His yells lash at me like a whip. The hate dripping from his tone reminds me of my fathers and I instinctively cower preparing myself for some form of abuse.

I look around and Jace's theory is confirmed. From what I can see, the wall with the door is now completely covered by huge pieces of cement rocks. Whatever was on the second floor and the roof of the school now makes up the ceiling. I can barely make out the shapes of shelves and books strewn across the floor. My heart sinks, we're definitely trapped.

"No, we can't be trapped here," I whisper trying to reassure myself.

"And what happened to the guy who was so concerned for my well-being 20 seconds ago? There's no reason to be such a dick, " I yell back jumping to my feet. A wave of dizziness makes me lose my balance. Jace suddenly appears next to me grabbing onto my arm to steady me. I wrench my arm out of his grasp turning towards where the door was.

"20 seconds ago I thought you passed out because you had a concussion or something not because you we're being a sissy. It's on you that we're stuck in here. Do you understand that? We are going to die because of you," he says accusingly. If I could see I bet his golden eyes would.

"I don't need to listen to this right now besides, we can move these to get out," I say walking over to the pile of rock. "We can move these, I know we can," I say failing yet again at trying to reassure myself. I try to pick up the smallest one I can see and grunt from the effort. It has to be at least 400 pounds and there's no way I could move it.

"Come on Jace help me out here," I say turning towards him, "You can use all your anger towards me to lift these things," I say trying my hand at humor to sway him.

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My-my-my Jace, why so mean? Let me know what you think in the reviews! I love hearing all feedback whether it's negative or positive. Hope you enjoyed.

Sincerely,

Niska


	3. Chapter 3

**Yoooooo, thank you everyone who's reading this. You have no idea how much it means to me to have people enjoy and tell me how much they are enjoying what I've written. I don't have much to add besides thank you's to everyone that's followed and favorited, it's really cool. Anyway, things are about to hear up hmmmm :) :) :).**

**ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO CASSANDRA CLARE. NO COPYRIGHT INTENDED. **

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Her persistence is useless yet encouraging. I breathe a sigh and move to join her where she stands on the pile of rocks. I can barely make out her silhouette through the blackness. Her flaming hair is like a beacon drawing me towards her. I reach her and my hands beg to touch her curvy figure.

"Fine, what do you want me to do?" I ask. She inhales sharply in surprise and I realise she's a mere few inches from me.

"I need you to help me pick this up," she says blowing hot breath over my face. I groan internally imagining all the other places she could breathe on me. Was it really only a minute or two ago she was clenching my shirt and pulling me closer to her?

"Here, I'll show you where it is," she continues grabbing my hand. Hers is smooth and small like a childs but has a surprisingly strong grip. As she pulls my hand towards the rock I hiss from the pain shooting down my arm from my shoulder. She stops immediately.

"I'm so sorry, I never asked if you were hurt. Are you ok? Did you break something?" she asks gently stroking my hand with her thumb. Her touch sends shivers down my spine.

"I'm fine. Being the gentlemen that I am, I landed on the cold, hard, debri covered floor so you didn't have to so you're welcome," I reply snarkily. Shit! Why did I have to be such an asshole to her? Someone is actually concerned about me for once and I'm just shutting her out.

"Fine," she spats pulling my hand to the rock sharply, "You're not rolling on the floor in anguish so I think you're capable of picking up a hunk of cement." If I had been able to see her face through the darkness separating us it probably would've been seething with anger and annoyance.

My shoulder bursts into flaming pain the second she jerks it towards the chunk and I hiss through my teeth. Jesus Christ this chick is killing me. Most girls melted at my smile or giggled at my comments. Most girls apologized when I was asshole to them thinking it was in someway their fault. Instead, this girl got pissed off and told me off. Probably because it was too dark in here to see anything.

"Grab the bottom and bend your knees," she directed, "and pick it up with your knees not your back." She must've grown up doing work with her family or worked at a hardware store. Only nerdy dads and store managers ever told you to "pick up with your knees".

"I think I know how to lift," I mumbled under my breath. I feel around it for the bottom. This thing is huge. I grab the bottom of it and ignored the pain radiating throughout the right side of my back and shoulder. I listened as she positioned herself and grabbed the bottom of her side.

She let out a breath and said, "Okay, on the count of three we pick it up ok?"

"I got it," I reply sarcastically.

"Alright, One-two… three!" she yells and we start picking it up. We get hardly an inch off the pile when the ceiling starts falling in again. I hear a groan come from above us and it starts raining cement again.

"Drop it! It's supporting other pieces, put it down!" I yell placing my side back on the ground. I feel her side fall to the ground and I waste no time grabbing her hand pulling her to safety across the room.

Pieces of cement fall behind us as we try to maneuver ourselves as quickly as we can around the fallen shelves. I slam into the wall and yelp in surprise. Clary runs into me slamming me into the wall again. Her body is pressed firmly to mine eliciting a soft groan from me. I feel Clary move away from me coughing from the tiny pieces of cement in the air.

"Look on the bright side," she sneers, "we know that this wall isn't covered by fucking rocks and if we move any on the other side we'll end up being pressed." She screams and punches the wall. I hear her knees hit the floor.

I've never consoled a girl before. I was always gone or left right when the tears and emotions popped out. But this time I had nowhere to go and… I didn't want to leave.

I kneel down in front of her. I use her sniffles as a way to locate her face and gently stroke her hairline. She presses her face into my hand and I gently cup her cheek. Her skin is so smooth and flawless and perfect like an angel. It takes everything in me to not pick her up and place her in my lap so I can touch every part of her. I decide that reassuring her would be the best route for now.

"I promise you Clary, we will get out of this," I say searching for her eyes in the darkness. If I could just see those perfect emerald green eyes staring back at me accepting what I was saying. If she could look into my eyes and see that I was being honest.

I feel her move beneath my hand. She places her hands on the outside of my thighs. She leans and places her forehead against mine. I can feel the drying blood from her wound on my own head. I reach out with my good arm and envelope her in a hug. Her shoulder presses into my chest and my arm wraps around her waist pulling her closer. She hesitantly brings her arms up to my shoulders.

"We're going to be ok," I whisper into her hair. Cautiously moving my injured right arm to her face, I gently caress her cheek feeling the hopelessness she feels within them. Never in my entire life have I had a moment like this. I have never cared for someone in a way that makes me want to make the feel good before I did. She pulls away from me and stands moving a few feet away. I look to her bewildered why she would break our moment.

"We should probably start looking for other ways to get out," she says acting like what just happened didn't happen.

"Do you think we're going to find a hole to climb through or something?" I ask sarcastically getting to my feet.

"I don't know maybe. I'll take this side you take the other," she says directing me again. Maybe her parents are in the military? That would explain why she was so controlling.

I walk to my assigned side brushing my hand against the wall looking for a hole or gap in the wall. I reach the corner and continue down the next wall but stop short when I run into something.

"Jesus christ!" I yell, "Why do I keep running into shit?" I run my hands along the object and realise it's a desk.

"Did you find something?" Clary asks making her way over to me.

"Yeah. I found a desk. Does anyone use this room or something?" I ask opening up the drawers searching inside for anything but finding nothing in the top and middle drawer. My hand hits a long glass object in the bottom drawer.

"I see Mr. Starkweather coming in here sometimes," she says a few feet behind me.

I shutter Starkweather is my History teacher and a total creep. "Agh, Mr. Starkweather is so weird. He actually made us dress up in togas for the Greece unit," I say picking up the glass object. It has a rectangle bottom and a long neck. I'm confused for a second but then I realise what it is.

"Holly shit," I murmur.

"What? What is it?" Clary asks coming up right behind me.

I can't believe Starkweather would even use this, I guess he wasn't as much of a loser as I thought he was. I opened up the top and sniffed. Yep, definitely what I thought it was.

"What is it? What is it? What is it?" Clary repeated begging to know what I had in my hands.

I looked up at her and chuckled, "It's a bottle of Jack."

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**Oh-hoh-hoh, look what Jace has found. I wonder what they'll do with it, hmmmmm? **

**Enjoy,**

**Niska**


	4. Chapter 4

**Yoooo, thanks so much for reviewing and following everyone Iv'e had fun reading them. Break is starting for me at the end of the week so hopefully I'll keep up writing but I have so much homework I've been procrastinating on. Anyway, read on to see what happens next...**

**ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO CASSANDRA CLARE. NO COPYRIGHT INTENDED.**

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He has to be lying, alcohol is strictly prohibited on school property. It simply can't be alcohol, he has to be lying. He starts sniffing the bottle again and I freeze where I'm standing. The last time I was near alcohol things had ended very badly. Memories come rushing out from where I'd locked them behind many walls of my mind. My heart quickens in my chest and my hands begin to shake.I am safe I tell myself_._ For the first time I'm actually kind of grateful that I'm stuck in here. Nobody can get in.

I take a deep breath to calm my darting heart and try to push the shivering out through my fingertips. I can feel Jace's eyes on me. He's probably wondering why I'm not spazzing out over the bottle and creating a system on how much we can drink to preserve it until help comes. Sorry Jace, too busy trying to get these memories to stop zipping around my head.

"Put it down," I say sternly, "we are not drinking that. Do you understand? Just put it down." I move away from him and the bottle as if the distance will make the memories that are still flashing in my head go away. One flashes boldly in my eyes and I remember the feeling of warm amber liquid flowing smoothly down my throat. I remember cold hands at my waist pulling me closer. I inhale sharply as the memory fades leaving me shaken. I feel his eyes on me like he can see through the darkness.

"Woah there hot head, it's not like that," he says.

"Oh so you _don't_ want to drink that? Yeah, ok," I scoff, "just put it down. There has to be a hole or something around here somewhere. There was too much movement for there not to be." I maneuver my way back towards where I was before.

"Hey! Come back here. I thought we coul-"

"Shut up!" I yell cutting him off and turn back to face him. I don't want to hear what he has to say. Boys only want one thing and they take it not caring what the hell happens or who gets hurt.

"You thought we could what? Get drunk and fuck 'cause we're going to die here? Well I've got news for you buddy, even if we were the last two people on Earth I wouldn't fuck you! You're like every other guy out there. All teenage boys think about is getting laid, you don't give a shit about the consequences!" I yell walking back over to him. My voice waivers at the end as another memory surges through me. I stand before him breathless from the shouting, my eyes stinging from fighting the memories. I hate this, him hearing me vulnerable.

I hear his shirt crinkle as he reaches out to me. His hand moves gently to my head and he plays with my blood covered hair. I don't want him touching me, I don't want any of his extremities anywhere near me. But, at the same time I feel an overwhelming attraction towards this creature. I feel a whisper of his fingertips on my forehead and my skin flares beneath his touch. His touch resonates through my body and I am instantly covered in goosebumps. Damn you hormones for making me feel this way when I'm pissed off.

"I was going to say we could use some of this to clean our cuts and scrapes," he says hesitantly.

"Oh… sorry," I apologize. My cheeks flare red, thank god he can't see me. Just like me to make a fool of myself and yell at someone for something they haven't done. But who would blame me for making that conclusion, from the way he was saying it it certainly sounded like he was asking to more than help me.

"We'll clean yours first" I say hesitantly reaching for the bottle, "where are they?" There was no way in hell I was going to let this boy "care" for me. I needed to see him weak first, I needed the power.

"Just some on my arm from when the ceiling fell in," he says placing the bottle in my hands. Our hands brush against each other and I nearly drop the bottle from the heat between us. His warmth is so inviting compared to the coldness surrounding us.

"Ok, um, where are they I can't really see them," I ask. He covers my hand with his and heat spreads up my arm. I have to catch myself from groaning as he leads my hand to his arm. He sets my hand down on his right shoulder and I can feel the starchy material of his shirt under my fingertips. I move my hand gently down his shoulder feeling for where the scrapes are. I feel tacky, almost dry blood from a huge cut on his muscular bicep. But there's something jagged in his arm.

"Jesus," I hiss, "there's something stuck in your arm."

"Oh," I mumble moving my hand over to my right shoulder, "I mean my right arm was hurting but I thought it was because I landed on some debri when we fell." I move my hand down further and feel jagged material beneath my hand. I press on it lightly and pain erupts in my arm. I groan loudly.

"This is how it'll go, ok?" she gives a small mmhm and I continue, "I'm going to pull it out and you're going to pour it on my arm then tie it with part of my shirt. Think you can do that?

"Um… I guess. I could rip your sleeve off," she says hesitantly. I can hear the nervousness in her voice.

"Yeah, use the sleeve from my left arm," I say. She gently places her hands on my shoulder and feels for my sleeve. Her hands are so warm and small and I instantly imagine them elsewhere on my body. Shit, I've gotta stop thinking about her like that or else I'm going try something. I want to be with her but there's something about her that makes me stop. She's hiding something and it probably had to do with a guy otherwise she wouldn't have yelled at me about trying to get with her and she wouldn't be so freaked out about touching me. She rips the sleeve from my shirt and hastily moves her hands away from me.

"Ok," she whispers, "you ready?" I feel the warmth of her body as she moves closer to mine. We can both hear her nervousness from the liquid sloshing around in the bottle. I reach out to her arm and gently clasp it.

"Hey," I whisper moving closer to her so that our faces are only inches apart, "you can do this. I wouldn't want anyone else doing this." It isn't a lie. In the incredibly short time I've been here she's the only person who seems like they genuinely cared. I bring her arm closer to my arm where the debri is and let go.

She takes a deep breath and touches the bottle lightly to my skin. She asks if I'm ready and I mumble a yes. This is going to hurt like crazy. I place my hand over the debri and count to three. My fingers grasp for the debri and I pull it free from my skin. My arm explodes with agony and I yell out. Next thing I know there's a biting pain and I yell out again. I'm doubled over yelling obscenities cradling my injured arm when a bottle is shoved into my free hand. Tiny hands grab my arm and tie something around where the pain is radiating from.

There's a pounding in my head and I'm starting to get dizzy. If I could see anything I would've seen black inching in on my vision. Small hands guide me to the cool ground. I can still feel her hands on my arm, pressing on it firmly. Guess I'm bleeding out. Ha! How funny is that. I survive this earthquake or whatever it is and end up dying from blood loss. How fucking awesome. I didn't even get to kiss Clary or hold her. Never got to run my hands through her hair or feel her body tremble beneath mine.

I hear my name being said and I'm drawn to the angelic voice. I hear it again, "Jace! What the hell are you doing?" Coming to my senses, I realise I am no longer laying down. Instead I'm now in a sitting position. My left hand is in Clary's hair and my right arm is slung around her waist pulling her closer to me. I can feel her chest rising and falling quickly against mine. I can feel the curve of her waist beneath fingertips. I can feel the sharpness of her cheekbone under my hand. What I feel most though is the burning desire that flows so eagerly between us. I want nothing more than to close what little distance there is between us. But I can't do it. She's different. I feel like I have to win her, like I have to prove my worth to be with her.

"I was trying to see if I could see the cut on your forehead," I say making an excuse for our current position.

She snorts and tries to wriggle out of my iron grip anxiously but I really don't want to let her go. This is the perfect chance, she's so close to me. All I have to do is cross the three inches separating our lips and it's a done deal. Instead, I release my clutch from her waist and she pushes away from me standing up. My arm throbs from the movement but it it doesn't hurt as much as the coldness replacing the heat that was just pressed against my body.

Swiping my hands close to the ground I look for the bottle of Jack. My left hand hits glass and I pick it up. I shake the bottle making sure there's still a reasonable amount left, it's half full. I move from the ground and take a swig. I don't care if Clary gets pissed off at me for doing it, that fucking hurt.

"Alright Red, it's your turn."

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**Oooooh, will our favorite red head give up some power? What shall happen next? Only I know muhahhaha.**

**let me know your thoughts **

**With love,**

**Niska**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello friends, I hope everyone had a splendid holiday (I know I did). Sorry for not posting in awhile, I've been to busy being a trap lord and a delinquent. This chapter is a bit longer to make up for my absence. Also, if you read this story before you know this chapter contains sexual material that may be offensive to some but if you're reading fanfiction it shouldn't come as a surprise there is sexual material in a story.**

**Anyway, enjoy. I made a playlist to go along with the story for some reason and it's kinda weird but here's the link to it.**

user/thewall97/playlist/3WH4KTuJjA7XGfwAqzrnl9

_**ok so the link isn't working so if you want to listen to the playlist follow these steps:**_

_**1\. ****Go to Spotify**_

**2\. _Search for thewall97_**

**3\. _Click on "public playlists"_**

_**4\. Click on "Chap 5"**_

_**5\. Read**_

**6\. _Listen/follow other playlists if you wish to do so_**

**7_. Enjoy_**

**ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO CASSANDRA CLARE. NO COPYRIGHT WAS INTENDED.**

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"_Alright Red, it's your turn."_

My body is electrified after being so close to Jace's. It's as if there were hundreds of matches burning just beneath the surface of his skin, teasing me to come closer and feel the full effect of his warmth. When his hand was clenched around my waist it was the most comforting and satisfying feeling I had felt in a long time. All I wanted was to bring my lips just an inch closer to his and let myself be free in this shithole, but I couldn't. I can't. I haven't been able to free myself completely in months and my inevitable death didn't seem to be able to change that. The grips of my past are still strong.

I close my eyes and let out a small steadying breath to calm my nerves. "Ok," I whisper hoarsely, "just do it, lets get this done."

He murmurs incoherently, probably calling me a wimp who's scared of blood.

His left hand softly traces up my neck towards my now dried cut. His fingertips leave my skin in goosebumps yearning for all of his warmth. He pushes my hair back gently and slightly tilts my head. He presses the bottle to my forehead and the liquid flows freely down my face pooling in the crevices of my eyes and above my lip.

The liquid drips through my lips and burns my mouth. I don't notice the stinging on my head anymore, I only notice the blistering pain I feel from memories slicing through my brain.

_flashback_

_We're gathered in Sebastian and Aline Verlac's backyard; they're hosting a going away party for themselves since they're leaving the next day to move back to France. Their parents have already gone back and we're well hidden by their overwhelmingly large house and the woods that line the property so we can celebrate without fear of being caught. Even though it's almost August, we've set a fire and converged around it to keep warm in the chilly air._

"_Thank the Angel it's clear tonight its been raining all week," Izzy giggles who's obviously been hitting the bottle._

"_I would've been so pissed if it had been raining for our going away party," growls Sebastian, "Seriously guys thanks for being such great friends to Aline and I even though we've only been here for two years. Izzy our little party animal, thanks for introducing us to everyone, Alec you genius, you got me through 12th grade. Sealie and Meliron, you two can be a bit odd but your funny as hell. And Clary," he says gently resting his hand on my bare thigh fixing his eyes on mine, "Clary you are my beautiful, artistic rock. Thank you."_

"_And all the rest of you," he yells to the crowd of 50 plus people that showed up, "you're just here for free booze and drugs and I fucking love it!"_

_The crowd yells and cheers in agreement throwing their cups upward and take a chug. I sip on my own beer and grimace slightly, I've always preferred liqueur to beer. Sebastian, reading my mind, passes over the bottle of Smirnoff Izzy was hoarding next to him. _

"_Heyyy, S-Seb I was drinking that!" Izzy slurs grabbing at Seb's arm to get her precious drink back._

"_Now now Izzy," Seb says patting her arm off, "Clary here is not a fan of Yuengling and we need to get her nice and drunk so she can remember my departure as pleasurable." Seb winks at me and smiles mischievously handing me the half-full bottle. His comment and smile are unsettling though I know they're both completely harmless. Sebastian would never do anything to hurt me. _

_I take a sip of the vodka and turn away from Seb's gaze trying to focus on the party around me to escape his daunting eyes. Sealie's found speakers and people get up to dance along to an EDM song I've never heard before. To my left Meliron lights up a bowl with a group of guys, no doubt I'll feel some of the effects from my proximity. Couples begin trickling into the woods lining the backyard trying to find privacy away from the party. Across the fire I see Aline and Alec engaged in what seems to be a very spirited conversation. Aline looks up catching me watching them conversation and smiles shyly. I'm shaken from my distraction when Izzy plops down noisily between me and Seb reaching for the bottle in my hand._

_I move the bottle to my other hand in a sad attempt to keep her from it. My short arms and body are nothing compared to Izzy's long, elegant physique. "I don't know Izzy, this vodka is getting kind of warm," I say and take another sip feeling the liquid burn a trail down my throat, "maybe I should keep it all to myself. I know you hate it when your drink gets warm."_

"_You bitch!" Izzy gasps, "You're just keeping it all to yourself! If I were you I would share it because I'm a nice person." I throw my head back laughing loudly at Izzy's comment and hear Seb chuckling to himself._

"_Iz, just a minute ago you were hoarding that bottle yourself," Seb comments._

"_LIES!" Izzy yells pointing her finger in Seb's face, "You're biased Sebastian Verlac! You're siding with Clary because you like her. I would never keep all that lovely liqueur away from everyone else."_

_By now I've started feeling the effects of the alcohol and smoke that engulfs me and every word that comes from Izzy's mouth is hilarious. I have just enough sense to calm down and take in the scene that's unfolded before me. Izzy and Seb were turned towards each other yelling insults in their drunken stupors._

"_Izzy, you're about as nice as a whip," Seb replies venomously to a comment Izzy made about him being a sadistic asshole. Alcohol and laughter has made me powerless to stop their argument so I take another sip and lie back onto the soft grass laughing at their ridiculous jabs. Seb and Izzy have never completely liked each other and were constantly fighting so it didn't seem like a big deal. Their fight did, however, draw the attention of a few partygoers and Alec and Aline wandered over to break up the fight. _

_From my position on the ground I could see Aline place her hands on her cousins shoulders and Alec pick his sister up off the ground pulling her away from Seb so she wouldn't pounce on him again, "Ok guys, you think you can keep the fighting down to a minimum tonight? Izzy it's Seb's last night here, let's be friendly. And Seb, what the hell mad don't provoke her, you know she's a lunatic," says Alec._

"_Hey! I am not a lunatic, I'm energetic," Izzy grumbles. Alec chuckles in response and puts his arm around Izzy and takes her in search of some water. _

_Aline whispers something to Seb and sits down in front of us blocking the warmth of the fire from getting to me. I sit up to face them my head spinning and pounding from the sudden movement. _

"_You know Clary, what Izzy said was true," Seb began, "I do like you. I like you a lot Clary. I want to remember you when I'm in France." He gently caresses my arm sending a shiver down my back from his cool touch. He seems to take my shiver as a positive sign and moves closer to put his hand on my back. I glance nervously at Aline who's seemingly distracted by something above our heads. Why would he be trying to get with me when his cousin was right in front of us?_

"_Sebastian, I thought we went over this, I'm not interested in your type. I'm sorry, I've only ever wanted to be friends with you," I tell him shakily. A look of disappointment crosses his face and his hand falls from its place on my back. I glance at Aline again who is now staring at me intently, a whisper of a grin on her lips. Needing to get away from all of the people surrounding me, I stand up hurriedly and nearly fall but catch myself on Seb's shoulder. I whisper a quick apology and stumble towards the lights that emanates from the house. _

_My head is pounding in rhythm with my heart as I struggle to climb the steps to the backdoor, my double vision making it difficult to locate the knob. I jerk the door open light washing over me and I am met with a warmth I'd lost from the icy air that always seems to surround the Verlac's. I close the door behind me and shuffle down the hall of the back entry and into a bathroom. The bathroom, like the rest of the house, is large. It has a jacuzzi tub, a fancy Japanese toilet, and a double sink with a victorian mirror mounted on the wall above it. I stare at myself, or rather two selves, in the mirror. My red hair is a mess with dry leaves and grass sticking out of it at different angles, there's dirt all over my clothes, my eyes are dilated, and my cheeks are flushed from too much alcohol. I sigh in frustration and begin pulling the leaves from my hair and turn on the faucet to splash water on my face._

_The warm water only sobers me slightly but I can still feel the fog in my head. I start drying my face with the towel and hear the backdoor close softly. I'm usually pretty good at letting things go but right now I just really need to be alone and don't want to deal with anyone._

"_Seb, if that's you, please go away. I do not want to have a fight with you right before you leave over something stupid and remember you as something you're not. Ok? So please, just leave," I say hanging the towel back onto the hook. I lean my back against the sink counter and close my eyes hoping that I'd imagined the sound of the door closing. _

_Small, almost inaudible footsteps come down the hall towards the bathroom. My heart instantly starts pounding and I'm terrified that when I open my eyes Seb will be there in front of me ready to have his way. But when I open my eyes all I see are Aline's and I relax instantly. Her brown eyes shine under the light, a look of mischief and intent in them. Now that I'm standing here on my own with her, I realise that I haven't heard her speak a word all night. She smiles sweetly at me and moves in a bit more, closing the door behind her. _

"_Ummm, hey Aline. Hardly heard you coming in there," I say tentatively as she leans against the now closed door, "what's up? I just came in here to calm down some, try to sober up a bit." The room suddenly feels claustrophobic, like there's more than just the two of us in here, and I move down the counter a few inches in attempt to create space between us._

"_I know," she says quietly moving closer again, "I thought I'd come help you out. Seb can be blind to the obvious sometimes."_

"_Haha yeah, you would think he'd get the point after two years that I'm not into him," I say, "I'm just kind of you know, a wee bit too drunk right now so if I could be alone for a few moments to calm down and sober up that would be great." Aline's eyes are almost completely black reminding me of dark, bottomless pools. Her dark stare scares me and I back up trying to create distance from her unnerving eyes. The mix of alcohol in my system inhibits my control of my body and I stumble onto the toilet, thankfully its closed. I sit there, sprawled across the toilet like a drunken mess, enchanted by her eyes._

_She moves towards the sink and bends down slightly to open up the cupboard beneath it. My body suddenly feels tense. The way she's looking at me, the way she holds herself, something about Aline feels… off. She doesn't break eye contact with me the entire time. Pulling her hand from the cupboard she reveals what it was she was getting, a cup. I sigh audibly; relieved it wasn't something more sinister. _

_She fills the cup with water and hands it to me. I thank her and take a big sip. We sit there in silence for a minute. Me sitting on the toilet drinking water from a cup. Aline watching me drink from the cup. It's all excruciatingly uncomfortable. I can't stand being in here anymore. I stand up and place the cup on the sink counter. I'm just about to push past her when Aline wraps her hand around my arm._

_She gently places her fingers under my chin bringing my body to face hers. Her fingers are colder than her cousins and goosebumps cover my body. "You don't have to hide with me Clary. I completely understand what you're saying," _

"_What are you talking about?" I ask, "All I've said in the past five minutes is would you leave me alone please."_

_She leans closer to me her eyes fluttering closed. I jerk back away from her approaching face and move towards the door but she pulls my arm back and pushes me into wall opposite her. _

"_What are you - were you trying to kiss me?" I choke out, "I-I don't understand why you thought I was ok with that. I know you're gay and I'm flattered that you're attracted to me, but I don't like you in that way. We're just friends."_

"_Come on Clary. Don't play with me. I saw you watching me tonight," she says walking across the floor stopping inches before me putting her hands on my arms running them up to my neck, "I know you like me. I know you want me."_

"_Aline please, please stop," I beg trying to push her away, "you've been drinking, you're drunk, just drink some water and then we can go back outside to everyone else."_

_She moves her right hand up and threads it in my hair pulling our bodies closer. She holds my head so that our eyes are just across from each other and I can see the desire in them, their darkness. I can feel her frosty skin through her clothes. "That's where you're wrong Clary," she replies hot breath smelling faintly of sulfur flowing over my face, "I've never been more sober in my life."_

_Aline stamps her mouth over mine, her hands pulling me closer. Her mouth is hard against mine trying to force me to open up. She brings her body closer slamming me against the wall, my head hitting it forcefully. I try to push her off but alcohol and helplessness leave me weakened. I cry out, tears streaming down my face._

_The bathroom door slams open. Alec and Izzy stand in the doorway with furious, wide eyes. Izzy launches herself at Aline screaming obscenities and brings her to the floor. Alec stands motionless in the doorway for a second before joining the scuffle picking his sister off of a Verlac for the second time that night. _

_I watch the scene only for a moment before I'm flying out the door. I run until I can't hear Aline yelling that she didn't know what hadn't gotten into her, that she was so sorry. I run until I can't hear my name being yelled after me. I run until I can't breathe and then sit down in a place I have never been before and try to forget._

_end flashback_

* * *

**_Do you like? Let me know in the comments. Now we all know why Clary is being freaky._**

**_Toodaloo,_**

**_Niska_**

**_p.s._**

**_y'alls comments are hilarious, I hope I didn't cause any permanent damage from withdrawl or depression hehehe_**

**_p.p.s_**

**_People reading from New Zealand I love you because it is the only place I have ever wanted to go and is where I plan on moving to when I graduate this coming spring. I plan on wwoofing (world wide organic farming volunteer program thing) at a farm and writing a book to hopefully publish.'_**

**_p.p.p.s._**

**_don't be so quick to think this is an ordinary earthquake... or an earthquake at all ;)_**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and follows everyone! I got snowed in so I thought I'd make myself useful and update. #closeFCPS**

**Someone mentioned in a comment they wanted more Jace and Clary in the flashback. In this story they've only just met and the purpose of the flashback was to provide background info to explain why Clary acts the way she does around people she isn't familiar with. **

**Another person commented saying they didn't think Clary should have reacted the way she did. I wrote her reaction the way I felt her character would have reacted at the time. It doesn't matter who is doing the harassing or its context, it's still a violation of personal safety and people are affected by it in many ways. Clary reacted the way she did because Aline was her friend and was surprised she acted the way she did.**

**I hope this is helpful for future reading!**

**I don't think I mentioned this before but - means the p.o.v.'s switches between Clary and Jace.**

**ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO CASSANDRA CLARE. NO COPYRIGHT WAS INTENDED.**

* * *

I come to and I'm on the ground of the book room. I'm whimpering but no tears fall from my eyes, I've gone through all of them. I'm clutching my head and balled into a fetal position. Once my breathing evens out I unclench my eyes. I gladly welcome the dusty and pitch blackness of the room.

All I did was pour the liquor over her cut. All I wanted to do was sterilize it, make sure she was safe. But the second it streamed down her face touched her lips she fell to the ground. She clutched her head tightly between her hands and screamed at me to stop. Sobs shuddered through her body making her shake as if there were another earthquake and she twisted herself into a tight ball whimpering from whatever was causing her pain.

What was she freaking out about? It couldn't have been the Jack, could it? I had drunk some before and was totally fine. Maybe she had never tasted alcohol before and couldn't handle it. Whatever it was that was causing her to hurt this way must have been excruciating. Clary's whimpering grew louder and she was murmuring words under her breath too low and too quickly for me to be able to understand what she was saying. What was I supposed to do? I had never had a caring influence in my life so when it came time for me to help someone, I didn't know how to comfort them. Did I pat her on the shoulder or wrap my arms around her like the movies have always showed? No, This seemed like the type of situation where you wait for the person to tell what's going on. So I waited, I stood there like an asshole with his hands in his pockets like he didn't have a care in the world because I had no idea what the hell I was supposed to do. I just stared down at her in the pitch black cave we were trapped in listening as her whimpering progressively grew louder.

Maybe the alcohol had triggered some sort of memory for her? She had been all finicky when I first told her I found it, like she wanted to be as far from it as possible. What had happened to her that caused this much torture? She was only 17, not much could have happened. But then again I was 18 and I had been to hell and back on more than one occasion. Suddenly, a mixture of moaning and yelling began to creep from Clary's mouth.

"Make it stop," Clary cried, "just make it stop. I want it stop. PLEASE! I just want it to stop!"

Her yells echoed throughout the room making every word reverberate off the walls. Every word sliced at my mind over and over again the pain in her words seeping into my soul. I couldn't imagine what she was feeling.

I had to do something, I couldn't just keep standing there like an unsympathetic buffoon. I crouched down next to her. Did I pat her on the back? Ask if she was ok? Both? I didn't have time to think it over, she needed help. I reached out with my good arm to where I assumed her body was and patted lightly on what felt like her shoulder or arm. I had barely opened my mouth to ask if she was ok when she erupted.

Clary had rolled over, ripping my arm from where it was perched. Little pieces of concrete scattered out from under her feet and I presumed she had maneuvered herself into a squatted position. For the first time since being trapped in here with her I felt alone. She didn't make a single noise, not even a whimper, it was like she'd just zipped her mouth shut. I had absolutely no idea where she was, it almost seemed as if she had escaped our concrete vault and left me here.

A single, low growl emanated four feet to my left and I turned instantly to the direction it came from. I hoped to whatever god there was that noise was Clary and not some demonic creature that had crawled out of hell and into our school, although they'd just be climbing into another circle of hell if you ask me. The creature growled again and this time I could recognize the tone of it as Clary's.

"Clary, why are you growling at-" I began to say but was cut short by a 98 pound 5 foot mass ramming into me. She grasped at the front of my shirt and pulled me down to face her. I could just barely see her eyes glistening.

"Don't you ever fucking touch me again, Jace. Don't you ever fucking think about it," She snarled in my face never breaking contact with my eyes. I suddenly felt vulnerable standing there with Clary's hands gripping my shirt with such ferocity I could feel the threads straining to not break. I would have never thought this little girl would have so much power over me.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" I began but was once again cut off by another snarl.

"Do not. Ever. Touch me. Again." The way she stopped after each phrase chilled my bones. Whatever had happened fucked her up bad.

I wanted to throw him. I wanted to rip him to shreds. It didn't matter to me that he had had nothing to do with it, he was there and I was mad. All I wanted was to get out of here and away from him. Everything about him mad me angry. I let go of his shirt and stepped back a foot.

"We're getting out of this room," I said to him, "we're finding a way out I can't stand to be in here another minute with you."

"Harsh," he murmured under his breath.

I turned away from him intending to walk around the perimeter of the tiny cave and look for holes, but, instead I stood there taking a moment to compose myself. He hadn't tried to hurt me intentionally, he had been trying to help, I could at least see that. It was just that he was all that here and that made him my scapegoat. I couldn't hold all these feelings and secrets in my mind, I had to get them out and push them onto someone else. I heard him shuffling around muttering to himself softly.

I was as good as it was going to get for the moment and decided the best thing to do right now was find a way out. I had walked a foot or two when I suddenly ran into a portion of the ceiling that had fallen in. I cursed internally not really caring about the pain and instead slapped the concrete in anger.

Part of the rock crumpled beneath my hand and I realised something very unusual about this concrete. It was spongy and gave away when I put pressure on it. This wasn't concrete at all, it was ceiling tile. I dug at it some more and it fell away at my fingertips like the first soft snow always does. I started giggling to myself, overjoyed with the idea of escaping. Four hours in here and I could already feel my mind slip. Jace must have heard me laughing as I heard him shuffling amongst the rubble no doubt coming over to investigate.

"What is it this time?" He asked, his tone heavy in curiosity. He was a foot behind my left shoulder and I could tell he wanted to be closer, closer to whatever it was I had found.

"It's Ceiling tile," I announced with delight.

He paused a moment before responding, "Ceiling tile? You got me over here for ceiling tile? Why would you be giddy over a piece of flimsy styrofoam?"

"Because," I responded, "ceiling tile is easily destroyed." I waited for the idea to sink in, it didn't seem to. "If there's enough ceiling tile surrounding this one, we could dig through it and get to the surface of whatever is over top of us."

This time he was able to compute what I was saying and pushed past me to get to the tile. He didn't even know where the tile was and just started ripping at the wall hoping to connect with some sort of sponginess. The sound of his nails scraping the concrete and his fingers gliding into the tile pulling out chunks echoed throughout the room. I stepped up next to him, forgetting our fight just minutes prior, and focused solely on tearing through the tile. The satisfaction of grasping the squishy tile and ripping it apart was much more satisfying than I had intended.

Soon, both Jace and I were laughing manically at the notion of escaping. This could be it. We'd been trapped here for hours but it had seemed like months, I almost wondered if the outside world had changed significantly since I'd been taken from it, maybe there'd be a new Iphone or slang terms I'd have to learn. When we finished with the first tile, we hit an obstacle. There seemed to be more to dig through to get to the surface but no way how to. The only option was for someone to climb in and try to dig through. From what I could remember, Jace was not a small dude. Considering the size of the hole I was the one who would have to go through and I didn't like that one bit.

Digging through the tile had been fine right up to the minute we realised there was more to go through. We had been having fun in a way, insane from the idea of finally escaping, but now we stood in front of our only exit with no clue on how we were going to do this.

Clary was going to have to be the one to go through the hole first. She was going to have to climb in, dig through who knew how much rubble, and create an exit for us. I could feel her tense up next to me. She was definitely aware of what she was going to have to do.

"Yeah, um, I really do not want to go through that hole first." she said peering in.

"Well," I replied, "I definitely can't fit through that so if there's another midget in here you're hiding then by all means get 'em up here, cause you're the only who's going to get in there."

"Woah, no need to be a jerk about it. I was just saying I didn't like the idea of me climbing through a hole with absolutely no light leading to who knows where."

"I'm just tired of being in this fucking room it's driving me crazy ok. I need to get out of here."

"Yeah well I want to get out of here too but you don't see me throwing a fit over it."

"You think I'm throwing a fit?" she had crossed a line, I was not throwing a fit, "You just laid on the floor for five minutes yelling and sobbing over alcohol! That's throwing a fit, I just voiced my frustrations about you delaying our getting out of here." Clary choked on her breath in surprise and mumbled a curse.

"You're the one delaying us getting out of here," she said mocking my tone, "I already would have been crawling down the hole if you hadn't started talking smack."

"Go then, we're wasting time. We've been in here for a couple of hours and it'll be dark outside soon so we have to hurry."

"Jeez, OK," she said as she prepared herself to get in the hole. It was almost three feet off the ground meaning she'd have to hoist herself up to get in.

"It looks like you'll have to climb into it, do you want me to lift you up?" I asked. I could tell Clary didn't want me to help her up but as she surveyed the hole I think she could tell she was going to have to let me do it. There was no way she was going to be able to raise herself up and position herself correctly to get in the hole.

Clary sighed and moved herself in front of me facing the wall. "You can only pick me up by my sides, do not touch me anywhere else or I'll put a boulder over this tunnel when I get out and you'll be trapped in here forever," she said.

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**Tell me your thoughts in the comments. **

**#closeFCPS,**

**Niska**


	7. Chapter 7

We made it out of the ruble. The concrete burned us wherever it touched. Hot, red marks rose on the palms of my hands. I thought my eyes were taking an usually long time to adjust to being out of complete darkness for the first time in hours but it was just dark. It was so dark. Ash clouded my vision and choked in my throat. I stood there in the open air on a mound of concrete remnants of my school. What had happened to my school? Where were the classrooms? Had the earthquake destroyed everything? Was I dead? Was I in hell?

So many questions whirled in my head. I couldn't stop thinking. I didn't know what was happening, I didn't know where my parents were, I didn't know where my friends were. I stood there on my mound staring into the opaque sky wondering what in the hell was happening to my life. Jace climbing from the rubble knocked me from my thoughts. He was so noisy grunting and yelling trying to free himself.

I reached down and gave him my burning hand to help him up. He took my hand and looked up into my eyes. He saw me. He saw the fear, the helplessness radiating from my soul. I could see the reflection in his eyes. At that moment I knew. There could be no one left on this planet but the two of us. I would probably never see my family or my friends again. He was the only person I had left. This person I had known for less than a day. He was all I could rely on. Sometimes in movies when the lead finds themselves stuck in a dire situation, they say, "He/she was all I had left. I was so scared, yet, I had (insert purposefully ironic and meaningful name) and I felt oddly at ease." That is such bullshit. Having to rely on someone you've known for eight hours in a potentially apocalyptic situation is not optimal. I would not jump into a car with this boy. I would not travel with him cross-country to find the resolution to my problem. I would not trust him with my life. I could see those same thoughts swimming around in his eyes. Unfortunately, I think we both knew sticking together and trusting one another was our only option. It sucked.

Jace averted his eyes from mine and focused on something beyond my shoulder. I couldn't be bothered by mysterious, devilish creatures at them moment and instead focused my attention on hoisting him up. I pulled and he pushed. Our hands rubbed against each other sending shooting pain through my body. I grimaced but worked through it. No way was I going to leave my only companion in a burning wasteland. I pulled two more times and he was free of the ruble. He stood up and I looked at his body and noticed what damage had been done during our escape. Scrapes covered his body completely. He had shallow bloody wounds that seemed to seethe in the heat. Ash quickly closed them off. Although it wasn't as bad as I first thought, his shoulder wound still gaped open. Skin around the gash hung in shreds. Bile rose in my throat and I turned away to join Jace in staring at what had become of our home.

My eyes had fully adjusted by now. The school in its entirety was destroyed. It was rock with pieces of chalkboard and books and bags sprinkled in. How many other students were trapped under it all? People I walked to class with, ate lunch with, passed by in the hallway, people I had never met before. The very institution that was supposed to raise us up, to enlighten us about this world had trapped them and smothered them. They were gone. I couldn't handle it. I couldn't bear to look at my life in complete ruin anymore.

I ran from the mound stumbling down its steep decline. I screamed the whole way down. I screamed to push the doom I felt encircling my mind away from me. I screamed because there was nothing left for me to do. I reached the bottom of the mound and ran through the rubble my speed stunted by its unevenness. There was almost 40 yards left until I would be out of the broken school and onto the burning grass. Beautiful green trees that once lined the property of the school were now charred. The grass smoked. Through the burnt trees I could see the neighborhoods that surrounded the school. Some were still intact others looked like a tornado had touched down right on them and never moved from that spot. Everything was covered in ash. The interior of my throat was coated in it and I wheezed as I ran. I reached the end of the property. My thoughts and my exhaustion caught up to me and I shuddered to a stop. I fell to my knees. I could feel the grass smoking holes through my jeans, I could feel the hairs on my knees singe. I kneeled there in the wasteland that was my home as ash covered me like an old trophy forgotten in the attic. Jace put his hand on my shoulder. Together, we stared at the wreckage of what had been our lives.

I'm not sure how long we watched the burning town. It could've been 3 minutes or 300, I wouldn't know. I never blinked, I just watched. The inferno consumed me, it raged all around, and I never stopped watching. My friends, my family, they could have been in that fire for all I knew. Maybe I was watching for a glimmer of them in the fire. At least I would know where they were, what had happened to them.

I'm not sure how long we watched the burning town. It could've been 3 minutes or 300, I wouldn't know. I never blinked, I just watched. The inferno consumed me, it raged all around, and I never stopped watching. My friends, my family, they could have been in that fire for all I knew. Maybe I was watching for a glimmer of them in the fire. At least I would know where they were, what had happened to them.

The instant Clary pulled me from the wreckage my eyes, my mouth, my entire body was swathed in ash. I choked and wheezed on it in attempt to breathe I almost wished we were back down in our cave safe from this hell. I had scrapes and cuts covering me. I could tell Clary was covered in them too. The wound on my shoulder burned hot and I looked down at it for the first time to see it gaping but no longer bleeding with shreds of skin hanging around it. But no matter how horribly my body ached, all I could concentrate on was the flaming town. I hadn't lived here long but I could tell there were far too few houses and trees surrounding what had been the school. It almost seemed like the fire was a living thing. It roared all around us and moved as a single entity burning and destroying. The fire moved from house to house and tree to tree engulfing and obliterating each of them. All that was left were charred sticks and blackened boards.

I had forgotten about Clary up to this point, I was mesmerized by the wildness, but her screams woke me from my entrancement. I whirled around to figure out where her screaming was coming from through the haze of the ash. She was running down the slope of the mound we had been standing on, screeching at the top of her lungs like it was the last noise she would ever make. It was unnerving in the quiet that surrounded us. I followed her down the slope slipping on the unevenness of the blocks. I could see now there were books and bits of desk peeking through the hot bricks I was running on. I hopped to whatever god there was, if there was even one in this wasteland, I wasn't stepping on any of the bricks covering the bodies of my classmates.

Clary had made her way from the rubble and was kneeling down at the edge of it staring at what had become of her life. She choked on the sobs that tried so desperately to escape her throat. I stood there behind her taking all of it, everything in. It was paralyzing. I had only been here for a few weeks yet it still affected me. These were people's lives and they were just gone, everything they had worked for destroyed. At the same time I could see the beauty in it. This was a photographers dream, Two disheveled teenagers covered in minor wounds staring at the ruins of their lives, the fire reflecting in their eyes.

As we stared at our broken homes something seemed to click in Clary. "Jace, I have to find my parents. I-I-I have to find my friends. I have to know they're all right," she said as she got up from the ground and grabbed my arms. There were tears swimming in her eyes begging for release. Her hands gripped my arms with such fervor I was nervous she might break the skin. She stared into my eyes searching for my answer, my help.


	8. Chapter 8

I had to find Izzy. I didn't actually care about my parents too much, there were always too invested in their own selves to truly parent, I just said it so Jace would be more inclined to help me. We were going to have to stick together anyway. I watched as he thought it through, the risk of walking through the fiery streets just to help me find someone. He didn't seem to be the selfless type so I was surprised when he said he would help.

"Really?" I asked barely hiding my surprise.

"Well, if you're going to act all shocked when I say yes maybe I shouldn't help you," he teased. I took my hands off his arms and was really tempted to slap him.

"Do not joke about stuff like this," I said pointing my finger in his face, "this is serious."

At least he could see how pissed I was now.

"Jeez, it wa-" his remark was cut off by yells.

We both whipped our heads up in the direction the yelling came from. It had come from a mass of concrete 20 yards that had seemed to launch from the school and settled a few hundred feet away. There wasn't anyone in sight though, maybe the yelling had come from behind it. They yells came again, it sounded like two different voices. It sounded like they were saying words but they weren't coherent through the smog. What if they were yelling for help? I started towards the mass when Jace stepped in front of me stopping me from going any further.

"You don't know who or what that was, what are you doing going over there?" he said staring down at me the fear in his copper eyes shining.

"What do you mean what am I doing going over there?" I asked astonished, "You do realise whoever that was could be in trouble, they might need help. Besides, they'd be able to tell us what the hell is going on."

I glanced at him for a moment before shoving past him. A mix of fear and curiosity covered his face and I could tell he didn't want me to go but I honestly didn't care. I had to find out what had happened. I had walked only two feet when he stopped me again this time pulling my arm back so I was forced to face him.

"Clary would just wait a second please," he pleaded the anger growing in his voice with every word, "look around you. Does this look like an earthquake to you?" he was full on yelling now. "Tell me! Does it look like a fucking earthquake to you? 'Cause it doesn't to me! This looks like freaking hell rose up. We haven't seen a single person since this all began, where do you think they all went? There's probably some deformed monster lurking behind there getting ready to kill you!"

"Would you just shut up with that nonsense," now I was yelling, "Everyone was probably evacuated from the area because it's unstable. The firefighters and the policemen are probably focusing somewhere else right now. Ok? Just calm d-" Something clamped down on my mouth and wrapped around my waist. I was wrenched backwards forcefully and dragged towards what I assumed was the mass of concrete. I writhed against whatever had attacked me and tried to scream through their closed hand. I looked over to Jace and saw he too had someone pulling him to the mound of concrete. Whoever was dragging must've been fairly strong because Jace was certainly putting up a fight.

But at that moment I noticed something about my attacker, their smell, they smelled familiar almost like oranges and cinnamon… Izzy! They pulled us around the side of the mound and plopped us on the ground still covering our mouths. I could finally see my best friend though. Her long black hair was singed slightly at the ends and soot covered her face and body. A slit on the arm of her indigo sweater revealed a large cut that seemed to have since stopped bleeding but managed to stain the entire sleeve red. Her black pants had holes ripped in the knees and the heels of her boots looked like they'd been ripped off. This was not the way my Attie usually looked, she was always immaculate even on when she took the SAT she looked like a goddess. It was at this moment when I knew something completely horrible had happened.

One moment I had been talking to Clary and the next I was thrown on the ground next to her behind the concrete boulder and was staring up at two very messed up looking people. Clary and the girl who had grabbed her seemed to know each other. They gave each other a once over then threw their arms around each other.

"Oh my god, Clary, I thought you were dead. I didn't think I would ever see you again," the girl cried into Clary's hair. Clary sat there holding the girl whispering I'm so happy to see you over and over again. I guess this was her friend.

I noticed the guy who'd dragged me over still had his hand over my mouth so I knocked it away.

"Who the hell are you people?" I demanded. I knew they probably went to our school since they looked to be the same age but I was new and didn't know who anyone was and was royally freaked out by the situation.

The guy and Clary's friend both looked at my face and whisper yelled at me to shut up. Clary's friend untangled herself from her and sat down between us her back resting against the wall. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.

"I guess I would be right to say neither of you know what's happening?" she asked.

Clary and I glanced at each other, I could see the dread in my eyes reflected in her own.

"No," we replied in uncertain unison.

She opened her eyes, "You're in for a hell of a story then."


	9. Chapter 9

Clary's friend introduced herself as Izzy and said the guy who was with her name was Simon; I told them I was Jace. Izzy began telling us what happened by saying no matter what she said we had to stay quiet and not go off. In my experience any story starting out like that is not going to be a good one.

"Allright," she began, "This whole shit show started this morning when I was coming to school around eight because as Clary knows I'm almost always late and I decided if I was going to be late I might as well get some coffee. I was walking back to my car after I got coffee from The Bean Hut when I noticed the sky looked weirdly dark considering it was clear and sunny when I had gone in. It looked like the color it does right before a huge storm, like a mix of dark blue and green but also slightly orange which I thought was odd. Anyway, I get in my car and am driving the few miles to school when the sky starts getting darker so I get kind of worried thinking there might be a tornado. By now I'm speeding to get to school because it seemed a lot safer than pulling over and waiting it out. Three minutes after leaving The Bean Hut I get to school and it's almost pitch black outside. I park, get out of the car, and run towards school. That's when all hell broke loose.

I'm running into school when a gust of wind nearly knocks me to my feet. I'm not exaggerating here, it was like freaking hurricane force winds. I stopped for a second to regain my footing when an overwhelming stench of roasting garbage and rotten eggs surrounded me. So I'm standing there in the middle of the parking lot, it's pitch black and I'm gagging from the stench when it starts getting really freaking windy again. At that point I thought I was dead, I thought there was a tornado and I couldn't see it and I thought I was going to die. I start running towards the school again when all of sudden everything stops. There's no wind, there's no stench, there's no sounds from the insects or birds, there was nothing, it was silent. I looked up at the sky and I could see the clouds circling each other like water does in a whirl pool. I guess it looked kind of like a tornado but not."

"Do you mean a vortex?" I asked hesitantly, I hardly knew this girl but she seemed like she would give me a death stare for interrupting her story.

"Yes, that! Thanks, Jace, now back to what I was saying. It looked like there was a vortex in the sky. The sky started changing color then, violet and orange mixed with the darkness and it was almost beautiful. It started lightning in the vortex, I guess from all the electrical activity, and it was like the entire earth was humming. I'm standing there mesmerized by what's going on when I notice there's a noise emanating from it. Believe it or not but it sounded exactly like the sounds the alien pod things made in War of the World's. The vortex made that sound for 20 seconds and then it happened. There was a huge flash of lightning and then these _things_ just came pouring out of the vortex. Hundreds of them, thousands maybe came flying out of it like it was a fucking slip 'n slide."

Izzy closed her eyes again. I wanted to hear the rest of the story, I wanted to know exactly what had come from the vortex. I wanted to ask her to finish so badly but I could tell she didn't want to talk anymore.

"I was inside when all of this was happening," I jumped at Simon's voice. I hadn't noticed he'd sat down next to me. "I was in the middle of a physics test when it got really dark. My teacher was about to call the office to see if we needed to leave the classroom when the sounds started. Everyone had their faces pressed up to the window trying to watch what was happening. The school started shaking then and when the big flash happened that was the end of it. The school just started falling in on itself. My classroom was right next to the door that leads out to the parking lots so I was able to get out before the school completely imploded. I don't know how many other people were able to get out, there must've been 40 people coming out the same doors I did." Simon stopped for a moment and swallowed.

"I was running out of the building when the demon things were just coming out. A couple of them landed on the school's property. Some looked like godzilla while others looked like giant pulsating blobs covered in dog slobber. I could hear people screaming in terror trying to run from the demons. I could hear them being ripped apart, hear them yell one last time. It was horrible. There was one demon, that looked so human. It stopped feet from and I could see it looked in every way human except for its eyes. It's eyes looked like burning orbs of fire. I wanted to move but it was like I was transfixed by them. It walked toward me laughing. When it opened its mouth there was nothing but row upon row of sharp teeth. Then it bit me. It just leaned down and bit my shoulder like it was nothing. I stood there paralyzed while this thing sunk its teeth in my shoulder when Izzy drove into it. She rammed her car into it and it disappeared. It burst into flames and vanished. After that all the rest of the demons that were here seemed to hear something and just like that they burst into flame and vanished too."


End file.
